Wedding dress experts...

[Raven31557]

This is my mother's wedding dress from 1949.
There's no tag to show who made it nor even the size.
I would guess it's about an 8 or 10.
at 5 foot 8 mom was a long, tall drink of water!!

I have no idea how long the train is.
I would guess about 8 feet.
The photographer arranged it all around her feet.

The picture of Mom alone I just put on my scanner w/o taking it out of the frame.
I just wanted to show you what it looks like.

Any ideas of what it might be worth?
It's not a designer label.

[talesofthesevenseas]

What lovely photos for your family to have! Beautiful!

[Raven31557]

Thank-you.
 

Dad died in a work accident in '81
Mom passed last Summer at age 90.
She was a widow longer than she was married.
 

She had been thinking about selling this dress these past couple of years.
I should take that photo out of the frame to scan.

[KC]

What beautiful pictures and wonderful family momentos.

Unfortunately, with this gorgeous n classic dress not being a designer name makes it "less desireable" in the vintage wedding dress market.  You will find (as in the case in majority of antique and vintage items of any type) that the sentimental value far outweighs the actual monetary value.

With you selling it (no brick and mortar store) you will be lucky to get $150 for it.  So many people who do buy them these days (that aren't businesses that deal in this) are buying them for $30 - $80 for the materials themselves.

Here's some interesting sites:

To help give you value
https://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/dresses/calculator

[Raven31557]

Thank-you, KC
I did try to use that site, but I have no idea what Mom paid for it.
and I know that not being a "designer" dress the value would be less.
I didn't think it would be THAT less, though.
Plus, it was never properly cleaned and put away.
Mom just wrapped it in a white bed sheet and put it in a box on her closet shelf.
haha
I'm just happy mice didn't get to it.

I tried to wear it when I got married, but it was WAY too small.
I was a size 12.

[mart]

Lovely dress and great pics !!  Do you possibly have grand daughters or other close family that you could redesign the dress for ??  Like touches of the lace on a communion dress or something similar !!  That would be like having your mother with them on a special occasion !!

[greenacres]

If you decide to keep it take it to your cleaners and have them preserve it in a box.

[Pelady]

Raven,

I did not have the room to save my Mom's dress. I tried to sell it.  I had seen many wedding dresses in the vintage clothing shops in my area.  They said there is a glut of vintage wedding dresses and the ones they have aren't selling. I donated it to an organization that turns them in gowns for babies that have died.  There are lots of different groups like:  Angel Gowns, the Mary Madeline Project, or Angels Above, etc

PeLady

[Raven31557]

Yes, I plan on having it professionally cleaned and stored.
Nope, no granddaughters. Not even nieces. Neither my brother nor I had children.
No female cousins, either!!! and all our male cousins had boys.

Only a couple of my friends had children.
We're a bunch of aging Baby Boomers that never boomed.
hahaha
I'll donate it maybe to one of those charities mentioned.
Thank-you, everybody!!

[KC]

I had never heard of those organizations!  How neat!